Attachable sleeve for children



Feb. 3, 1942. M, s, ABELL AT'I'AGHABLE SLEEVE FOR CHILDREN Filed Nov. 2'7, 1939 IN V EN TOR.

MEG/IP57 J. ABELL 3% ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,271,580 ATTACHABLE SLEEVE FOR. CHILDREN Margaret S. Abell, Berkeley, Calif. Application November 27, 1939, Serial No. 306,210

3 Claims.

The invention, in general, relates to means for preventing the distortion of the mouth and teeth of a child. More particularly, the invention relates to a shield or sleeve attachable to the arm to prevent a child from reaching the mouth with the thumbs;

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve for childrens arms which affords relatively free arm movement yet prevents the child from placing the hand or thumbs in the mouth.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shield of the aforementioned character which does not bind or press upon any portion of the arm to limit blood circulation or the normal development of the arms.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive shield or sleeve which is readily attached in position and yet diflicult for the child to remove.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved attachable sleeve for a childs arm for the prevention of thumb sucking, the sleeve being characterized by enabling full bending of the arms while affording no discomfort to the wearer.

Other objects of the invention, together with some of the advantageous features thereof, will appear from the following description of a preferred and modified embodiments of the invention depicted in the accompanying drawing. It is to be understood that I am not to be limited to the precise'embodiments illustrated, nor to the children preferably comprises a hollow cylinder or tube, means for fastening the tube to the wrist of a child, with the tube encircling the fore-arm, and means on the tube and connected to said fastening means for permitting longitudinal movement of the tube with respect to the arm of the child to which the sleeve is attached whereby the hand becomes enclosed by the tube upon bending the arm towards the face.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a sheet II which can .be fabricated of relatively light-weight cardboard or from any other suitable light material, such as Celluloid or the like, and which may be transparent, if desired. The sheet II is folded upon itself longitudinally and fastened together adjacent to its lateral extremities to provide a hollow cylinder or tubing, as indicated by the reference numeral I2. Any suitable means may be utilized for fastening the lateral edges or extremities of sheet ll together, such as the conventional snap fasteners, or the same may be riveted together if desired. Preferably, the ends of the formed cylinder or tubing l2 are bound with a fabric tape I3 in order that no rough edges of the cylinder will be exposed to cut or damage the arm of the child in any way, the tape I3 conveniently being fastened to the cylinder l2 by stitching. It is to be par precise arrangement of the various elements, as

my invention, as defined in the appended claims, can be embodied in a plurality and variety of forms.

Referring to the drawing:'

Figure 1 is afront elevation of a preferred embodiment of the invention, this view showing the sleeve in operative position on an arm of a child.

Figure a preferred embodiment Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the preferred embodiment of the invention and illustrating the means for attaching the sleeve to the childs arm.v

' Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the invention depicted in Figure 1, this view Showing another position of the sleeve.

' Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of a modified embodiment of the invention.

In its preferred form, the attachable sleeve of my invention for preventing thumb sucking by 2 is a vertical, longitudinal section of of the invention.

ticularly observed that sheet H is cut to predetermined lengths and to such dimensions that when folded and fastened together the formed cylinder does not engage the arm but is spaced therefrom, and encircles the fore-arm normally but extends approximately from the tips of the fingers of the child to just below the elbow when the arm is bent toward the face as depicted in Figure 1 of the drawing. By the expression below the elbow is meant at a point between the elbow and the wrist and by the expression herein above the elbow is meant at a point between the elbow and the shoulder. Preferably, the cylinder I2 is cut to such a length that it is approximately as long as a childs fore-arm measured between the wrist and the elbow. Different lengths of cylinders I2, of course may be provided for children of different ages or in accordance with the lengths of their fore-arms.

As illustrated in enlarged detail in Figure 3 of the drawing, I provide a suitable wristlet strap [4 for detachably fastening the cylinder or tubing I2 to the wrist of the child, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawing. Wristlet strap [4 can be made of any desired material but preferably is formed from a soft fabric in order that it will not chafe the skin when tied about the wrist.

My present improvement includes means for permitting longitudinal movement of the sleeve with respect to the arm of the child, and to this end I provide a coupling member I6 consisting of a length of flexible material, preferably a fabric, which I fasten to the wristlet strap M as well as to the cylinder or tubing I2 through the medium of a fabric web II. In order that the wristlet strap l4 cannot become detached from the coupling member and be lost, I preferably stitch the strap to the coupling member and I likewise stitch the coupling member Hi to the web II.

It will be clear from a study of the accompanying drawing that the attachment of the sleeve to he wrist of the child, as well as the removal thereof therefrom, is a relatively simple matter. In attaching the sleeve, the cylinder [2 is first slipped over the hand and moved up on the arm suificiently to expose the wrist. Then, the wristlet strap i4 is; tied about the wrist, as shown in Figures 1 and 4 of the drawing. When desiring to remove the sleeve, it is only necessary to untie the strap l4 and slip the-sleeve out over thehand. Due to the provision of the flexible coupling member l6; the cylinder i2 is freely movable longitudinally on the arm of the child, and I preferably form the-coupling member to a length that will permit appreciably longitudinal movement of the tubing with respect to the arm. As

a result, when the arm of the child wearing the sleeve is hanging at the side, the sleeve covers the hand and the same situation prevails when the child bends the arm toward the face. For,

in this latter connection, when in the act of bending the arm the inner or upper end of the cylinder i2 will be contacted or engaged by that portion of the arm of the child above the elbow i'. e., between the elbow and the shoulder and the cylinder will be urged outwardly to cover the hand and the child cannot, therefore, place the thumb in the mouth to distortthe mouth or the teeth. Since there is complete freedom of movement of the cylinder 12 on the arm longitudinally, due to the presence of the coupling member it between the wristlet strap I 4 and the cylinder, the inner or upper end of the tubing does not bear or press upon the arm to limit blood circulation or cause the child any discomfort. Moreover, since the length of the sheet H' and formed cylinder I2 is predetermined, there will be no binding of. the upper arm between the elbow' and the shoulder when thechild bends the arm nor will there be any'limitation on the act of bending as the cylinder will be always urged forwardly of the elbow. Moreover, it is clear that the child can slide the cylinder upwardly on the arm to leave the entire hand free for picking up articles, in which event, the child cannot bend the arm toward the face as the cylinder-in that shoved upwardly position will encompass the elbow.

In Figure 5 of the drawing, I have illustrated a modified embodiment of the invention in that I have depicted a modified type of wristlet loop and attachment means therefor. In this modification, the cylinder I I2 is formed from a sheet H! of light-weight material and has its edges bound with a fabric tape H3. In this embodiment, the cylinder is preferably fastened to the wrist of the child by a wristlet strap H4 which carries a relatively small ring H5 on its exposed or free end, the ring being conveniently secured to the strap H4 by folding the straparound the ring and stitching the same together. A coupling member H6 is interposed between the wristlet strap H4 and the cylinder H2 and may be stitched to a web in the same manner as the coupling member l6 of the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4 inclusive is stitched to web IT, although in this modification the coupling member I I6 is extended and looped through a suitable hole'l28 formed in the cylinder H2. However, I preferably interpose a second ring H8 between the coupling member H6 and the wristlet loop H4, the ring H8 being of the split type with two halves detachably connected together so that it may be opened and closed at will. Ring H8 serves as a means for receiving the small ring H5 carried on the end of the wristlet loop H4 and thus to form the loop for attaching the cylinder H2 to the wrist. Preferably, the ring H8 is fastened to the coupling member as well as to the loop H4 by means of stitching, as indicated by the reference numerals H9 and H9 in Figure5 of the drawing. A connection of this character between the loop and the coupling member has the advantage that it cannot readily be broken even by a clever youngster, as might occur in the case of the loop that is merely tied about the wrist. Preferably, the rings H5 and H8 are made from bone or similar material in order to avoid chafing of the skin.

It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise mode of fastening the coupling member to the cylinder for the web I! may be dispensed with and the coupling member attached directly to the cylinder or, if desired, can be threaded through suitable holes or eyelets formed in the wall of the cylinder. It also is to be understood that the appended claims are to be accorded a range of equivalents commensurate in scope with the advance made over the prior art.

I claim:

1. An attachable sleeve for children to prevent thumb sucking, said sleeve comprising a hollow cylinder adapted to encircle the arm of a child below the elbow and to be held in spaced relationship with'respect to the arm, a wristlet strap, a ring on one end of said strap, a flexible coupling member fastened to said cylinder, a connection between said wristlet strap and said coupling member; said connection defining an opening, and a split-type ring at the juncture of said. wristlet strap and said coupling member; said splittype ring being adapted to be threaded through said openingdefined by said connection and to be threaded through saidfirst-named ring to define a wristlet loop for fastening said cylinder to the wrist of a child, and said coupling member being of such length as to enable said cylinder to be urged forwardly to enclose the hand when the wearer of the sleeve bends the arm toward the face.

2. An attachable sleeve for children to prevent distortion of the mouth and teeth by thumb sucking, said sleeve comprising a tube approximately equalin length to the length of the fore-arm of a child and being adapted to encirclethe same in spaced relationship, a wristlet strap for fastening said tube to the wrist of a child, and a flexible strip fastened at its one end to said wristlet strap and at its other end to said tube; said flexible strip being substantially equal in length to the length of the hand of a child so that said tube is permitted to move forward and substantially to. enclose the hand of the child when the fore-arm is bent toward. the face.

3. An attachable sleeve for children to prevent child and thereby movably mount said tube with respect to the child's fore-arm and hand, said flexible strip being substantially equal in length to the length of a childs hand so that with said Wristlet strap tied about the childs wrist said tube will move forwardly to encompass the childs hand when its fore-arm is bent toward its face.

MARGARET S. ABELL. 

